A GWENT-BORN man whose daughter vanished almost four years ago is still in the dark about her fate as detectives investigate a possible link to a serial killer.

Philip Kerton believes his daughter Louise, who was 24 when she disappeared, may have been the victim of the 'Ogre of Ardennes' Michel Four-niret, a 63-year-old forest warden.

Student nurse Louise disappeared at Aachen railway station, Germany, in July 2001, where she was due to catch a train for Bel-gium on her way back home to Britain.

She was bound for Ostend where she intended to board a ferry to Dover. Mr Kerton, originally from Aber-gavenny, believes Fourniret may have preyed on Louise's vulnerability.

It is believed she was depressed after failing her nursing exams.

The notorious self-confessed French serial killer, alleged to have murdered 20 girls and young women, has already confessed to two killings in Belgium and eight in France.

Last month Fourniret's wife, Monique Olivier, 56, was charged with the murder of three women and retracted a number of accusations against her husband.

Both are in custody in Belgium.

German police have confirmed they are probing the possibility that Louise, a friend of bar hostess Lucie Blackman who was murdered in Japan, was Fourniret's victim.

Mr Kerton, who now lives in Kent, told the Argus his family "were still very much in the dark" over her disappearance.

He said the family have given up all hope that Louise is still alive.

"The investigation is continuing but we have no knowledge of any content or progress.

"It is a pretty dreary sort of time for us which affects our outlook on life. "We have given up hope and really we just want to know how she came to an end and draw some sort of line over things."

Louise was returning from Germany after visiting the mother of her fianc Peter Simon near Bonn.

She had been living with Mr Simon in Broadstairs, Kent, in the months before she went missing.

Louise's family visited the Aachen area several times after her disappearance, searching for her in hostels and bars.

They heard of many alleged sightings but none ever led them to her.